How the heck do we get our foot in the door??

I am starting to think this maybe one of the hardest professions to break into. I mean I have tested 5 times this year and each time there was 400+ people with me testing. I just dont get what you can do to beat out that many people no matter what your qualifications are. I will not give up but it is definetly getting disheartning.

Yup, it is. Competition is fierce, and though you may be qualified, another candidate may be more qualified and/or a better fit with the department. If you have no disqualifiers and you want it bad enough, you won't give up. Stay in the fight.

Bump to all previous responces.With that many individuals applying it stands to reason it will always be much more difficult.I did my first twenty five in a town of some 600,000+ and we ALWAYS had well over a thousand applicants and only hired a class of thirty/forty,twice a year.If you have military service and or college your chances are MUCH greater,oitherwise you had best hope and pray you are capable of aceing all the tests they throw at you.

I probably made 50+ applications over about a 2 year period before getting hired, LE jobs were hard to get them, though it is probably harder today. One agency I applied at had over 800 applicants for one position for example. Don't get discouraged after 5 tries if LE is your goal.

I would recommend trying to get on as a detention officer first... or if you have the time and money, putting yourself through the academy (be prepared though, having an academy certificate doesn't mean you're guaranteed a job) or... apply to be a reserve/auxuilary first. Some departments will hire from their reserves first... but it never hurts to have some law enforcement related work experience.

I understand what your saying. I posted a similar question quit a few months ago. I have been applying and testing for the last 2 years, still have yet to find a home in law enforcement or to get my foot in the door. I will have my bachelors degree in CJ here in April. I have tryed to get in to do an externship through the school, but the school told me I have too many credits (I have credits from previous college that transfered over). I have been trying to stand out and continue to fight the battle to get in. Good luck with your testing.

As the others have said, be persistent. If this is what you want to do, never give up. Apply, apply, and apply some more. I applied throughout my state after putting myself through the academy on my own. It was a year and a half before I got on with my home county and that ended up being in the detention facility.

Keep your options open and don't limit your choices. I wanted to be a street cop but the job I got was in the jail. I treat it as part of the process. Never give up.

One other thing. Check your background for anything that might be holding you back. Even something you might not think about could be the thing that throws up a red flag.

If you really want it...applying five times in a year shouldn't be that discouraging. In some ways the job is harder to keep than it is to get.

The hiring process is about weeding out applicants...and examines the decisions you have already made (admittedly with less riding on the outcome than the ones you'll be making in LE); and your mental and physical abilities to do the job.

Keeping the job is about the decisions you have yet to make...made in the blink of an eye under stressful circumstances, but examined from every angle by others in a comfortable environment with access to resource materials and no shortage of varying or contradictory points of view.

Don't get discouraged...the rejection is adding to your character for the next interview. My guess is that agencies take roughly the top 1% of the folks that apply. If your not "maxing" your scores, fix what's wrong and try again.

Start small first. I picked a small town where the competition was not too bad, then I made a plan. You have to really make a lifestyle out of it. Meet the officers and make friends, then the mayor, and try to work your way around the influential people. Like they said, college certainly helps a ton. But try to start in smaller less popular town then try to get on with the big city you want. But of course never give up!

I am starting to think this maybe one of the hardest professions to break into. I mean I have tested 5 times this year and each time there was 400+ people with me testing. I just dont get what you can do to beat out that many people no matter what your qualifications are. I will not give up but it is definetly getting disheartning.

When you can say that you can not even remember how many times you tested, with how many departments you tested with and placing yourself in the police academy as a self-sponsored / pre-service cadet, all in the course of approximately 15 years.......... then MAYBE, we can talk. Until then, be patient, keep putting in applications and testing......... and be good.

Ya know, quit whining. Fight hard, fight long, fight continuously. You don't always get what you want when you want it. Being a law enforcement professional means ALWAYS staying in the fight. ALWAYS.

You may have to apply many many many many times. So what. Keep going.

You have to try over and over and over and over again.

Get used to it. It manifests itself in LEO work, too. Get used to doing things over and over again.

It's part of the career, the life and the LEO landscape.

BUMP Sarge.

Hopeful3,

I worked as a Corrections Officer for a couple of years. It was easy to get in where I worked. As for a Police Department, you just need to keep trying. It is not easy to get in. I am still trying to get back into LE.

Just don't give up (if you are serious about it)

"Ladies and Gentlemen, take my advice. Pull down your pants and slide on the ice."~~~~ Allan Arbus, (MASH, Sidney Freedman)

Bump to all here. It's a very fierce competition. If you want it bad enough, keep going. If you feel like giving up then maybe this isn't the lifestyle for you. Being a LEO is not a job, it is a lifestyle. If you're looking at it as just a job or being able to arrest people and carry a gun, then maybe you should look for something else.

I posted in your other thread also...... You may want to acknowledge those who have taken the time to answer your question(s) and give you a little insight mixed with their own experience. Just a thought / hint.

Try to become a reserve or aux and dont get discouraged I am still getting "FU Letters" as I am sure every seasoned officer on here has received when they were first trying out. A good friend told me expect quite a few especially with everyone trying to land that first job. Dont give up!